A 38-year-old man died Wednesday afternoon after being electrocuted during a construction accident at the Swedish/Edmonds campus that also triggered a power outage to the hospital and several Edmonds neighborhoods, Edmonds police said.

According to police spokesman Sgt. Josh McClure, the victim was working with a compressed air tool while in a ditch, and died at the scene. Snohomish County PUD spokesman Neil Neroutsos said the worker’s contact with the line caused the outage at 1:50 p.m.

Neighbors reported hearing a loud boom at the time of the outage, but Neroutsos said he couldn’t yet confirm whether a transformer blew. The outage affected about 890 customers, he added.

McClure said that power outage not only affected the hospital but was scattered across several Edmonds neighborhoods including downtown. Swedish/Edmonds used backup generators until power was restored about 2:24 p.m, he said. According to McClure, power interruptions in the area may still be possible.

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries was notified of the accident and will be investigating. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner will respond to the scene and determine the cause and manner of death, police said.

Swedish/Edmonds started work this spring on a two-story, 77,000-square-foot facility that will feature a new emergency department and urgent care center. Completion is expected in fall 2015.

He was my neighbor. A newlywed, married in July. A father, son, brother, friend. Grew a garden. Raised chickens. My heart aches for his wife and daughters. It should not have happened. Not to Jason…… or any other construction worker who expects to go home at the end of the day.

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